Dorchester Illustration no. 2399 Simpson Refrigerator
Simpson Refrigerator
We have recently received photographs of a Simpson Refrigerator made here in Dorchester. Simpson did not last as long as the Eddy refrigerator company that was located near Field’s Corner. Simpson was one of a number of manufacturing establishments in Lower Mills at the end of the 19th century. Both Simpson and Eddy manufactured ice boxes and ice chests.
The Simpson Refrigerator Company was located on the north side of Sanford Street, Dorchester (Boston),Massachusetts, in the Lower Mills section. The factory would have been located approximately at 53-57 Sanford Street.
The 1879 Boston Directory identifies a Henry B. Simpson as a carpenter living on Granger Street in the Harrison Square section of Dorchester. In 1880 the Directory has an entry for Henry B. Simpson, refrigerator manufacturer at Codman Street, near Dorchester Avenue, Lower Mills, living in a house nearby.
The 1883 Boston Directory locates Simpson, refrigerator manufactory on Sandford [sic] Street, Lower Mills. Peter and Mary Munier sold a parcel of 21,900 square feet to Henry B. Simpson on March 24, 1883, Suffolk Registry of Deeds, Book 1591, Page 369, providing the description: ” a certain lot or parcel of land in Ward 24 in said Boston, with the steam mill and machinery or fixtures therein, known as the Norcross Mill.” City directories indicate that Simpson lived at 38 Sanford Street.
In 1886 Simpson took on a partner, Sumner B. Cole, and their firm continued until 1892, when Cole relinquished his interest. Simpson gave a mortgage to Almon L. Smith in 1893. Henry purchased a lot on Oakridge Street in 1895, and city directories thereafter give this as his home address.
On November 2, 1896 Henry sold the property to the Waterman Refrigerator Company, a company formed in the state of Maine. It appears that Waterman was not run successfully. The mortgage to Smith was foreclosed in 1899.
The factory is pictured on company stationery.